Morning Roundup: Boundary Edition

Photo by AlbinoFlea

Good morning, Washington. After a wickedly cold and windy weekend, today is looking to be downright pleasant -- it'll be partly cloudy with temps rising into the mid-40s. The rest of the week will see temperatures rise even further, though we face a chance of scattered rain and snow tomorrow and Thursday.

One City Summit Draws 1,800: On Saturday some 1,800 residents gathered for Mayor Vince Gray's One City Summit, a citywide townhall meeting to help Gray identify key priorities and pinpoint creative solutions. The Post (and WTOP and the Examiner) report that while many residents were happy with how technology was used to engage participants during the summit, others were concerned that the whole shindig was too expensive. (It cost $600,000 to put on.) During the summit, participants ranked the biggest impediments to Gray's One City vision -- 17 percent cited lack of affordable housing and gentrification, 15 percent identified government corruption, and 14 percent pointed to income inequality and lack of quality public education.

Metro Spending $51 Million on Contractors: The region's transit agency is spending over $51 million on 18 outside contracts for everything from engineering advice on rail repairs to escalators and SmarTrip cards, writes the Examiner. According to a Metro spokesman, the contracts are used for very specific projects that the agency does not have in-house expertise for or independent outside analysis. Regardless, a union representing white-collar Metro employees has complained that the agency is opting for contractors too often, notably when some of the work can be done in-house.

Don't Bet on Internet Gambling's Future in D.C.: After the D.C. Council voted to repeal a controversial Internet gambling program last week amidst concerns over how it came to be, prospects for a stand-alone bill that would finally bring legal online poker and other games to the District are murky. The Washington Times reports that while Councilmember Michael Brown (I-At Large) has pledged to bring a stand-alone bill legalizing Internet gambling to the council, he's unsure of how long it will take to draft and debate. Additionally, if Congress steps in and decides to legalize and regulate Internet gambling, it could hurt the District's opportunity to cash in on being one of the first jurisdictions in the country to allow it.

Briefly Noted: Wind knocks over 30-foot sign on I-66 ... Virginia residents: today is the last day to register to vote in the March 6 primary ... Pine tree-shaped cell phone tower draws mixed reviews ... D.C. ad campaign encourages school attendance ... 58 percent of Virginians like Gov. Bob McDonnell ... Trump's Old Post Office won't be only development opportunity along Pennsylvania Avenue ... A Prince George's County vote on expanded gambling sites in Maryland would be unconstitutional.

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2011, Adams Mill Bar and Grill closed its doors. In 2010, D.C. drivers learned how to park when there's lots of snow on the ground. In 2009, young diplomats-to-be took over Dupont Circle despite our strenuous objections.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@dcist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Martin Austermuhle in News on February 13, 2012 8:50 AM 0 Comments

morning roundup

Comments [rss]

Guest

58 percent of Virginians like Gov. Bob McDonnell

I want their names.

ms_jlynn

It's not me though I don't detest him as much as the Cooch.

Kev29

This one's for you, Whitney...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

IMGoph

the "wind knocks over sign on 66" link just links to the flickr page of the picture included at the top of this post. what's the proper link?

Joan Arkham

Still not fixed...

Try: http://www.nbcwashington.com/n...

IMGoph

thanks. i guess there's less comment-monitoring going on today.

Guest

This photograph reminds me to look south.

monkeyrotica

Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the District Building used to be full of retail until the Feds decided to "beautify" it by replacing everything with Federal Buildings that kill street life. I still recall Kann's before the hobos burned it down. Fifty years later, they decide maybe encouraging people to walk around after dark and buy crap might be a good idea. Someone should bring back Harvey's Restaurant.
http://victualling.files.wordp...

Whistlebritches

Oh, it's oysters you want? I got two big oysters for you right here, pal.

http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/t...

perfectlycromulent

"Regardless, a union representing white-collar Metro employees has complained that the agency is opting for contractors too often ..."
A union for white-collar Metro employees ... hmm. Unless the work requires mastery of Solitaire between the hours of 9am and 5pm, my guess is that they lack the in-house skills.

Ollie Pooeater

Or they're so distrusted by upper management, that anything they produce would be worthless.

Or the members of the metro board all have close professional and financial ties to transportation "consulting" firms.

C) All of the above.

perfectlycromulent

True, all possible.

If the unionized white collar workers: a) have the required skills; b) have the capacity; and c) are willing to be let go if they do not perform the work on time and in a satisfactory manner--then Metro management should definitely stop the contracts and turn to their employees.

monkeyrotica

You know who else had to be encouraged to attend school? That's right. Ludwig Wittgenstein.

http://www.strangehistory.net/...

monkeyrotica

Additionally, if Congress steps in and decides to legalize and regulate Internet gambling, it could hurt the District's opportunity to cash in on being one of the first jurisdictions in the country to allow it.

Agreed. It's far more important to be the first crook on the block to make tons of cash off gullible morons who don't understand probability theory than it is to actually prevent it from profiting assclowns who want to name every dildo-choked alley "District Voting Rights Dildo Alley."

I'm just here for the snark

DDOT just replaced the DISTRICT VOTING RIGHTS DILDO ALLEY sign on my block with one in mixed case District Voting Rights Dildo Alley and boy does it look great!!

monkeyrotica

Yeah, you can really see those dildos coming from a mile away.

Joan Arkham

That's no dildo...that's a space station!

ms_jlynn

Was that link for the I-66 sign story intentional?

Guest

Try this

BTW, I get my kicks on Route 66.

monkeyrotica

17 percent cited lack of affordable housing and gentrification, 15 percent identified government corruption, and 14 percent pointed to income inequality and lack of quality public education.

I've been saying this for years: the downward trend in urban crime is the worst thing to happen to DC since the peak of the crack epidemic in 1990. Now that most of the hardcore criminals are dead, their families moved out and in swooped the Newcomers® with their $h!tty coffee shops and dry-ass cupcakeries. And those corruption numbers are way too low. What's up with the other 85 percent who think government corruption is just swell? Why aren't they out mugging people for their iPhones? We all need to do our part to make downtown as inhospitable as possible. As for income inequality, once we get that crime rate back up to 1990 levels, everyone will be equally poor, all those coffee-swilling urban phaux-bos will start pooping out crotchfruit and abandoning the city, and we'll once again have huge swaths of cheap empty housing stock in FloRhIde, NoSwamPoo, SoWWat, and CaBi.

mensan98th

What this city needs is a war. And then a good floodin'.

http://legal-dictionary.thefre...

IMGoph

i mean, how in the hell can you cite "gentrification" as an impediment to the "one city vision" (ugh, whatever-the-hell-that-means) when there's no goddamned definition of what 'gentrification' even is.

slapdash, thy name is...

Kittyliteral

That stat is just evidence that Marion Barry's brainwashing of Ward 8 folks is working.

guestymcspanky

So if there is debate over the exact definition of what something is that means it doesn't exist? So there's no such thing as art either?

Ollie Pooeater

On the other hand, does every self serving philosophy that ignores 'facts' actually worth anyone doing anything about?

guestymcspanky

I'm not sure what the 'self serving philosophy' is in your question. What is the fact ignoring philosophy?

monkeyrotica

"Gentrification" is kinda like "hipsters" or "pornography" or "a vibrant brand of urbanism." You can't really define it but you know it when you've stepped on it in a treebox.

poopieface

Anyone go to the One City summit? Anything worth reporting from the commentariat perspective?

Dread_Pirate_Roberts

The $90 muffins were delicious.

DCTransplant

Seriously, $600K? Why?

D_Rez

PR is expensive.

Pope Lando

So are contractors.

monkeyrotica

And, of course, the squirrel bling.

http://www.iphoneaccessorieswh...

monkeyrotica

You can't really skimp on summits. You have to attract the best motivational speakers available, like Chuck Garabeedian. He taught me to live a Burt Reynolds lifestyle on a Mac Davis budget. Ya gotta squeeze every penny! See this suit? I got it cheap because Roy Cohn died in it. That yacht? A steal because it smells like cat pee. And those beautiful women? They used to be men.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_wXFz...

CJ_Scudworth

In 2009, young diplomats-to-be took over Dupont Circle despite our strenuous objections.

God, Martin, you should have just been happy that they didn't smear ketchup all over you. Now that we have to worry about knocking over some sleep-striking protester's jar of urine anytime we walk into a Starbucks, your anti-Model UN rant seems almost quaint.

Pope Lando

Pine tree-shaped cell phone tower draws mixed reviews.

Why even bother with aesthetics? The buzzards don't seem to mind.

Pope Lando

Metro Spending $51 Million on Contractors

FUNDRAISER!

Dread_Pirate_Roberts

I love how the linked article about the pine shaped tree cell tower...doesn't contain a photo of said cell tower. Ah, journalism...

Joan Arkham

I've seen them up in Jersey. I think they look hilarious, like cartoon trees a kid would draw. They ought to just make them completely absurd, maybe get Jeff Koons to design them.

r_madd

I've seen them in Upstate New York and they look ridiculous.

slim_pickens

The Hutchinson River Parkway has a silly looking one. Thanks for reminding me how much I hated that drive.

http://www.ryerecord.com/Rye%2...

Guest

Silm where you see a silly looking cell tower I see the ability for continuing sexting while driving the parkway.

Kittyliteral

Not on the Hutch. It's a "parkway" only in name.

Guest

http://weburbanist.com/wp-cont...
http://weburbanist.com/wp-cont...

monkeyrotica

I kinda don't want to see a cell tower hanging out of Jeff Koons' pornstar wife's ass, but that's just me.

Joan Arkham

That's probably not just you. (I was thinking of cute balloon animals!)

CJ_Scudworth

Or the Lorax.

Milton Noones

but it does contain a link to said tower..

Dread_Pirate_Roberts

I had no idea that Metro's white collar staff was unionized. Color me...not surprised. But regardless, $51 million is chump change.

poopieface

White collar unions are less about organizing for rights and benefits and more about having an organized voice to communicate with management.

Ollie Pooeater

I suppose if you work for an organization that only listens to union-speak, you have to form a union to have a voice.

I'm just here for the snark

I worked for a firm that had unionized lowest-level white collar employees. That union didn't do anything; since it was a heavily unionized industry, and many of those employees 'came up through the crafts' so to speak, I fancied it more like methadone to wheen them off of unions.

Oh, and apparently you believe in slavery